


Under the Stars

by missvega



Category: IT (Movies - Muschietti), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Fluff, Idiots in Love, M/M, Swearing, richie tozier is a boy scout
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-14
Updated: 2020-01-14
Packaged: 2021-02-27 11:54:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22256767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missvega/pseuds/missvega
Summary: prompt, from anon: is there anyway i could request some stozier? just something fluffy and sweet?????
Relationships: Richie Tozier & Stanley Uris, Richie Tozier/Stanley Uris
Comments: 4
Kudos: 81
Collections: Losers Library Fic Collection





	Under the Stars

Stan, in the realm between not quite asleep and asleep, heard a slight rustle behind him before his shoulder was nudged forward. His body tensed and his eyes shot open, and he was met with the enveloping darkness of the tent. He forgot for a moment that he wasn’t inside his house. He was in the woods with his scout troop, out on one of the few camping trips they took every year. He was suddenly very aware of the cold, hard earth underneath him and he instinctively grabbed the thin sleeping bag, pulling it tightly around him.

Another push of his shoulder, this one more forceful.  _ It’s probably just Richie _ , he reasoned.  _ Remember the time he sleep-slapped Eddie during that sleepover at Bill’s? He just moves a lot _ . Feeling satisfied with that answer, Stan let his eyes slowly fall back shut.

Only a moment passed before a hand grabbed onto his shoulder and shook, the rest of his body following the movement.

“Stan,” the voice –  _ Richie _ , Stan recognizes – said in a hushed whisper. “Stan, wake up.”

“Richie, stop. I’m sleeping.” He mumbled. This certainly wasn’t the first time Richie would wake him up during these trips.

“But Staaaaaaan.” Richie whined and shook Stan’s shoulder again for emphasis. “I can’t sleeeeeeeeeep.”

Sighing, Stan turned over to face Richie, barely able to make out his silhouette in the dark. He could feel Richie staring down at him, looking at him expectantly with wide eyes.

“So you wake me up?”

“What am I supposed to do? Suffer by  _ myself _ ?” Richie placed his hand over his chest, mocking offense.

“Yes.” Stan rolled back over, content to leave it at that. When it was obvious to Richie that he was being ignored, he laid back down on his sleeping bag, sighing dramatically. Still no response. He expected  _ something _ from Stan. Richie always had trouble sleeping when they went on camping trips and he always bothered Stan. Usually, just waking him up was enough to convince him to talk to Richie until they were both overtaken by sleep.

“I guess I’ll just  _ die _ here.” A pause. “By myself... All alone.”

“Richie, you’re not gonna die.” Stan didn’t bother opening his eyes when he mumbled his response. Richie smiled, happy that he finally got another reaction, but quickly composed himself to keep his act going.

“You don’t know that!” Richie shot up, sitting upright and facing Stan. “What if a bear bursts through here and fucking kills me?”

“And it just leaves me alone?” Richie started answering before Stan could finish his question.

“I don’t know! It could!” There was a moment of silence between them before Stan started shuffling around, getting up from the ground. He began folding his sleeping bag neatly in half before he rolled it up. “Wait, what are you doing?”

“Follow me. And bring your sleeping bag.” Stan carefully stepped over Richie and made his way out of the tent, holding the flap open for Richie. The other boy blindly felt around on the ground for his glasses, sliding them on and scrambling to stand up. He scrunched up his sleeping bag into a ball and almost tripped over something on his way out.

The light from the moon and stars illuminated the area enough for Richie to see, his eyes slowly adjusting to the relative darkness. Stan walked forward a few feet before kneeling on the ground, smoothing out the sleeping bag. He looked toward Richie, and motioned him to join him with a quick bob of his head.

“Come on.” His voice was still barely above a whisper, and Richie almost didn’t hear it. While he approached, Stan relaxed back onto his sleeping bag, staring up at the night sky.

“Stargazing?” Richie switched to a southern Voice, “Aw, Stan, you’re so sweet. Takin’ a young lady such as myself out for a date!” Stan could feel his face starting to burn and he hoped it was too dark for Richie to see.

“What can I say? I’m a romantic.”

“Ooooh! Stan the Man’s being a little sarcastic today, huh?” Richie lay down next to him, and Stan noticed that his sleeping bag wasn’t placed exactly parallel to his own. He had the overwhelming urge to fix it, but he forced himself to instead focus on the stars above.

“Just shut up and look at the stars.” Richie could hear Stan’s smile, and when he turned his head to look at the curly haired boy, his heart stopped for a moment. Well, to be fair, Richie’s heart always stopped when he looked at Stan. It just happened to falter a little more when it was Richie who made Stan smile. “Oh, wow. You actually stopped talking.”

Stan glanced toward Richie, his blush coming back in full force when Richie quickly whipped his head back skyward. Richie laughed awkwardly before he shot his arm up, pointing at a cluster of stars.

“So, uh, what’s that?”

“Richie, there’s at least twenty stars where you’re pointing at.” Richie slowly lowered his arm back down to his side. “And what makes you think I know every star?” Stan moved his head to face Richie.

“Well, uh. You know things?” A soft laugh escaped Stan’s mouth, and Richie’s heart stopped working yet again. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Is that a compliment, Trashmouth?”

“Do I get a prize if it was?” 

“Beep beep, Rich.” Stan lightly pushed Richie’s shoulder. “To answer your first question, I don’t know. I just like looking at the stars.”

Richie whispered a soft “oh,” before they both stared at the twinkling lights above them. They sat in a comfortable silence, enjoying the view of the night sky, for a few moments before Stan spoke up again.

“When I was younger, I would look at the stars when I couldn’t sleep.” Richie turned his head to watch Stan as he spoke, amazed at how the pale moonlight made Stan look even more beautiful. “I had a blanket I put under my bed that I would take outside with me. Lay it on the grass like this and just,” he took a deep breath, “stare.”

“I never fell asleep outside,” Stan continued. “Which is good because imagine how my parents would react.” A small smile tugged at Stan’s lips and he let out another soft laugh. “But I felt…”

“Safe?” Richie offered after Stan trailed off.

“Yeah. Safe.” He whispered. 

Richie looked toward the sky again, trying to remember any of the constellations he learned last semester in his astronomy class. He came up empty though, all the stars beginning to blur together. They were easier to recognize when there were less of them.

Now, all of the stars seem to be battling each other to be the brightest. Each twinkle a little more luminous than the last. It was oddly… comforting. Richie understood what Stan was referring to, about being safe. Even though the night sky seemed vast and endless, there was a certain kind of comfort found in it. Like everything could turn to shit but there was always going to be a bright side. Something this beautiful couldn’t exist in a bad place – it just wasn’t possible.

Before Richie could stop himself, the words left his lips.

“How about now?”

“Hm?” Stan turned to look at Richie, eyebrows scrunched together in confusion.

“Do you feel,” Richie swallowed thickly. “Safe?” His eyes flickered to Stan, and he could feel the heat rising to his cheeks. He wished he could grab the words out of the air, shove them down his throat, and swallow them back up.

But he couldn’t.

So instead, he stared up at the sky and just waited for an answer.

“I do.” Stan slowly moved his hand, brushing it against the ground until he grazed Richie’s hand. He looked toward Richie, his face unsure – an expression that didn’t fit him at all. “Do you?”

“Yeah.” Richie breathed out, his heart beating a little too fast and a little too hard. Stan smiled – a smile so radiant to Richie that he forgot how to breathe for a moment – and Richie felt himself relax. Stan turned his attention to their hands, just barely touching each other, and linked their pinkies together.

“Good.” They stayed like that for awhile, both of them sneaking quick glances at each other to make sure that this was real, before Stan spoke up again. “We should go back inside the tent.”

“Oh wow, Stan. You like getting right to it, eh?” Richie smirked and wriggled his eyebrows at him

“Beep beep.” Stan rolled his eyes, but there was the smallest trace of a smile. He let go of Richie’s hand in order to get up. “We have stuff to do tomorrow, and I don’t want to listen to you complain about how tired you are while we’re hiking.”

“We both know I’m going to complain either way.” But Richie sat up anyway, following Stan into the tent and placing his sleeping bag back down next to his.

And if it was a little closer than it was before, no one said anything about it.

**Author's Note:**

> send us requests at loserslibrary.tumblr.com !


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